Why The Delay In Reporting Abuse Charge? It's The Law

August 27, 1989|By Carolyn H. Cox of the Sentinel Staff

TAVARES — A Lake County teacher is accused of abusing an elderly, disabled man in her care on Aug. 2. More than two weeks pass, however, before school district officials find out about the allegations and suspend her from duty.

Who is to blame for the delay? No one.

Laws dealing with abuse of the elderly forbid the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services from releasing information about such cases. And there are no laws to compel law enforcement agencies or state prosecutors to alert school officials when teachers or other employees are accused of abuse or neglect involving the elderly.

HRS must notify school districts and enlist their help when children have been abused, but the law makes no such provision for adults, said Alwyn Cassil, spokesman for the HRS district that includes Lake County.

Cassil pointed out that the state abuse registry, into which names of people involved in confirmed cases of abuse are entered, is a resource that many school districts do not use. Lake County does not consult the abuse registry when screening potential hires, said Bob Miller, director of human resources and pupil accounting for the school district.

There are some safeguards, however, Cassil said.

''If the abuse is serious enough, it goes to criminal charges, which is another mechanism for notification,'' she said. ''It becomes a public record.''

However, that often isn't enough, Lake County schools Superintendent Tom Sanders said. Because law enforcement agencies aren't required to report arrests of school district employees, ''half the time, we read it in the newspaper,'' he said.

School district administrators learned of the abuse allegations against Sarah Clark, a fourth-grade teacher at Beverly Shores Elementary in Leesburg, on Aug. 18. Assistant Superintendent Jerry Cox said he was notified by the state attorney's office in Tavares.

A 65-year-old stroke victim, who had been in her care since July 14, was removed from her home Aug. 2 after a neighbor called police. Among other things, Clark is accused of hitting the man on the head with a pistol and urinating on him.

Although the percentage of school employees involved in abuse cases of any kind is hardly of epidemic proportions, Sanders said he is concerned that such people could be allowed to have contact with children. He also is concerned about the loophole in the elderly-abuse law that prevents HRS from notifying school district officials when employees are suspected of abuse.

''I think it might be something we need to look at,'' Sanders said. ''I think HRS also might need to look at it. If they have knowledge of an individual who has the potential to abuse others, the question comes to mind, what's their responsibility to help make sure the abuse doesn't occur to someone else?''

Cassil agreed the law could be improved, but suggested that lobbying for a change would more appropriately come from education leaders.

''People get accused of things, yet this is still America,'' Cassil said. ''You have to walk that line and be fair to the people who have been accused of committing a crime and protecting the public. Those two come into conflict. If individual rights are stepped on, that becomes the focus. If someone is at risk, that becomes the focus.''